Panthers forward Shawn Matthias, who was unable to corral the loose puck that ended up past Jose Theodore in the second overtime, still isn’t sure why Tomas Fleischmann’s goal was disallowed. He felt he was pushed into Devils goalie Marty Brodeur and replays backed his assertion up.
Do you think that cost the Panthers the game? I actually think the controversial call fired up the fans and that spread to the ice where the Panthers seemed to come alive after the call. The refs might’ve felt they blew it too as the Panthers finally got a couple calls going their way which led to their two power-play goals.
NHL.com caught up to Matthias after the game.
“I don’t really know why that goal didn’t count. I haven’t seen the replay. They didn’t show it. But we still went out there and battled hard and tied it up and force this thing to overtime. It’s going to be a long summer thinking about that. It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Matthias said.
NHL.com asked if he thought he was pushed into Brodeur. “That’s what I thought. I don’t know how I got a penalty out of that. But I haven’t seen it. We still came back and tied it up, but you can’t be too upset about that goal not being allowed. Who knows? It’s hockey. You’ve got to forget about those plays. But you have to remember this feeling right here.”

Comments (6 Comments)

Matthias show some class in this interview, focus on what you can control and let go what you can’t. I agree that that call fired up the crowd and seemed to spark some energy in the Panthers. If that call isn’t made, who knows what happens. Bottom line is it was a great season that ended after a hard fought series in double overtime. Only 1 team is happy at the end of the season, 29 other teams are disappointed. Thank you Panthers for a great season and for bringing passionate hockey back to South Florida. I look forward to raising the 2012 Southeast Division Champs banner to start next season and playoff hockey being the norm in South Florida. That Cats are back!

This issue of goalie interference is something the league needs to address. You see it happen in game after game – an offensive player is checked/cross-checked/shoved into the crease and into the goalie and the result is often a goalie interference penalty. Until the NHL decides to start penalizing the defensive player or simply not call a penalty on the offensive player and not negate goals scored, defensemen will continue to use that tactic. Yes, the league does need to make sure goalies are protected and if an offensive player is careless and runs the goalie while the goalie is in the paint, he needs to go to the box.

It’s really a simple thing to fix, but the NHL needs to admit that it’s becoming an epidemic and just deal with it.

I don’t see how they can’t use the trajectory of the player prior to contact and post contact as a determining factor with replay.

Is the player establishing a skating line outside the crease area? Is he contacted by a defensive player? During and immediately after contact with the goalie is the defender still contacting the player? When the players motion is changed such that his motion interferes with the goalie is it from an internal movement (Player driven) or external movement (Defender initiated)?

If they can infer puck position when they can’t see it visible then they can infer goalie interference from replay. Draw a line prior to contact of where the player would have been had he not been contacted by a defender. If that position is not in the crease then infer external movement caused the interference.

HARVEY FIALKOV, a tennis-playing sportswriter who grew up in Long Island following the dynastic Islanders, is the new Panthers beat writer for the Sun Sentinel and looking forward to writing about the best professional sports team in Broward County.